https://mru.org/courses/principles-economics-macroeconomics/us-unemployment-rate-undercounted

5. Who, does the video say, might come back to work if they were offered enough money? Is that person currently unemployed, or are they not in the labor force? (4 points)

6. Name one unemployment statistic that is more strictly defined and thus lower than our official rate. How is it more strictly defined? (4 points)

7. What is the video's bottom line about if our official rate is a good indicator of the labor market, or if it seems like a conspiracy manipulated by people in power? (4 points)

Stay Tuned Podcast with Zanny Minton Beddoes. This week you will listen to about 14 minutes of a podcast called "Stay Tuned With Preet."I listen to this podcast every week, especially to stay informed on national legal affairs. The host is Preet Bharara, a former U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York State, a region that includes New York City.His guest is Zanny Minton Beddoes, who among other accomplishments you will consider is the first female editor in chief of the excellent weekly news magazine, The Economist. This is a weekly magazine published in the United Kingdom.

I will link the Sticher Podcast, but you can find several versions of this episode of "Stay Tuned" by searching Stay Tuned The Shape of Recovery May 21 2020. This interview was conducted near the start of Corona, but I think still holds up pretty well. This is also a great way to test the predictions of these two smart analysts.

https://www.stitcher.com/show/stay-tuned-with-preet/episode/the-shape-of-recovery-with-zanny-minton-beddoes-69816205

All the times below are based on this stitcher version; if you look it up o Apple podcasts or Spotify you'll have to use these times as approximate because the ads and filler vary. Note I prefer Stitcher because you can fast-forward very quickly to the times I indicate below.

It is very important that you learn to access sources of information which provide what Beddoes describes as ". . .authorative, fair-minded, rigorous journalism. "The Economist" is widely respected and I encourage you to read it. It has a free-market, individual liberty bias but also presents nuanced perspectives that differ from this pro market-economy perspective.

8. Look up Zanny Minton Beddoes and tell me two things about her background (besides being the Editor in Chief of this important magazine), you find interesting, or which might help establish her credibility as a journalist. (4 points)

The entire podcast runs about 1 hour and 10 minutes. The interview with Minton Beddoes begins about 15:15. Note this podcast is a bit dated now, but is interesting to think about how different the world looked two years ago, and continues to have valuable lessons as we consider if moving forward more people will be working from home.Plus you get to listen to two very smart people discuss labor market issues - one moderately conservative (Beddoes) and one moderately liberal (Bharara).

9. About 17:45 they start discussing the difference the Corona Virus has had on people already in their professions versus people new to their professions. Their answers run about 4:00 of the podcast. Describe one advantage or disadvantage either Minton Beddoes or Preet Bharara says comes from working in the office rather than remotely. Be sure to state why you agree or disagree with advantage/disadvantage you chose. (8 points)

(Now you will jump a lot to late in the podcast, but if you have time, this whole interview is quite good)

10. About the 47:45 mark Beddoes begins discussing the need policy makers have to balance what two factors as we move forward in fighting the economic effects of the Corona pandemic? (8 points)

11. At the 50:45 mark they start discussing the difference between how the U.S. has provided support for workers versus how the U.K. has provided support for workers. Describe this difference. (8 points)

12. Suppose Beddoes is right and the post-COVD economy is very different from the pre-COVID economy.If this is true, does Beddoes imply (at about the 52:30 mark) it is better to lay off workers and pay them unemployment insurance like the U.S. has, or to pay firms to keep workers in existing jobs like the U.K. has? (The discussion about this runs until about 56:00. (8 points)

13.Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers' twitter feeds. In Assignment 7 you read an article by Justin Wolfers on inflation during COVID. If you take me for microeconomics, you'll have a textbook written by Wolfers and his partner Betsey Stevenson. They were both actually grad students at Harvard where they worked with Greg Mankiw, and he encouraged them to write their textbook.I check their twitter feeds every week.Their research background is especially strong on labor market issues like unemployment. Click on one or both of the links below and go find some recent tweets about some topic you find interesting. Then write at least a 3-sentence paragraph about why you found it interesting, or disagree with it, or want to know more, etc. You are welcome to write about multiple tweets if you want. (12 points)

https://twitter.com/BetseyStevenson/

https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers